CANACONA
As heavy rains continue to hit Canacona taluka, a landslide brought down boulders and trees and blocked the main village road at Agas-Loliem early Tuesday morning.
Incidentally, the Loliem-Polem panchayat meeting was underway when news of the landslide reached the panchayat office. The Sarpanch Sachin Naik along with Agas Panch Bhushan Prabhugaonkar, Ajay (Ajit) Lolienkar, Shailesh Pagui and Nishant Prabhudessai rushed to the site to take stock of the situation.
“The hillock partially gave way and blocked the main village road, which is usually busy at about 11.45 am,” said Sarpanch Sachin Naik.
The Taluka Disaster Management Team (TDMA) along with Canacona Mamlatdar Vimod Dalal, Talathi and others also visited the site, while Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes, who was in Panaji at the time, directed TDMA team to initiate measures to clear the mud and boulders blocking the road.
By afternoon, TDMA had begun a day-long exercise with the help of a JCB and truck to clear the fallen trees, boulders and mud.
Stating that the hillock is prone to landslides during the monsoons, Naik said: “It is providential that no pedestrian or motorist was passing by when the landslide took place.”
Incidentally, Agas Panch and former sarpanch Bhushan Prabhugaonkar blamed the government for not doing anything to prevent such landslides which take place every monsoon.
“When I was sarpanch, I had requested the government for some sort of protection wall under disaster management at Agas. But except for an inspection by PWD engineers, the government did not do anything and left the place vulnerable to landslides.”
“People continue to suffer due to landslides and I request our MLA to do something to prevent further landslides at Agas,” he said.
Asked about the protection wall, the sarpanch said the panchayat has already passed a resolution in the matter.
“The resolution has been submitted to the Disaster Management Authorities for urgent action to construct a protection wall to avert such landslides at Agas, as the road is the main route for the village,” said Naik.
